Behind the reflection; Zen in Retrospective

I originally became interested in Zen meditation through the power of art. This is not an uncommon phenomenon to be influenced dramatically by the visual experience of art；as art has been functioning as a teaching device since its birth on the walls of caves. Zenga art, a form of sumi-e ink painting, has uniquely inspired me through the image of an Enso. An Enso is a simple circle that usually begins thick with paint and empties as the stroke reaches full circle. This was an art form that I didn`t understand and caused a sense or curiosity in me. A child could very easily paint a circle, or even a square (which is another form of an enso). I asked myself if this was really art. Which raised a much more complex question‘what is art?‘ This is a problem often pursued in contemporary art today through movements such as Dada or Japans Neo-Dadaism which produced `anti-art` rejecting the previous notions of what art was and broke down the barriers of what could be constituted as art. I decided to pursue the Enso and Zenga in search of what the essence of art really was.

The Enso was born from the hand of a Chinese master Na-Yueh-Haui-jing from the Tang dynasty who claimed that his circular figure was `perfection` symbolizing the nature of the enlightened consciousness or the original countenance before birth. I found that to understand the Enso, the human heart must also, become an Enso, but what made an Enso an Enso? I discovered the enso most commonly resembles emptiness as the blank page isn`t empty enough, that true void is depicted by the movement of the Brush. The Enso is a symbol of emptiness, of nothing, of everything, of unity, the moon, the ultimate goal yet a shape without beginning or end. The Enso was so much more than a symbol. An Enso was not the moon, nor was the moon an Enso but an Enso was the finger pointing at the moon the active reflection internalized in the viewer.

On looking at the mirror I discovered I needed to look behind it to find my original face. For an artist, art is not about product but process. I realized that to really understand the art of Zenga painting I needed to understand the practice. The meditative states required to really contain the `mystical identification` found in Zenga painting went far beyond the conventional handling of paint requiring a great deal of intense concentration and meditation. I found that painting in the style of Zenga was incredibly difficult despite how deceivingly easy it appeared. The secret to painting Zenga lay in the rather difficult mindset of not allowing the practice to be difficult, to slip easily in between subject and object, accepting nature directly as experienced as in Zen-mind or no-mind

(mushin), no mirror.

I had often practiced towards reaching this concentrative state of Zen-mind through the practice of yoga. Yogic concentration is very similar to Zen-mind with a slightly different approach which I believe is easier for beginners that are interested in meditation to reach similar states of mind. However, I do believe Yoga to be a much more difficult practice in cultivation of concentration than Zazen sitting is for more advanced practitioners. I say this because Yoga feels like a much more active practice where the yogi is constantly moving their body in between asana postures, sessions and even in stillness, always finding length in the spine and searching for the correct posture. This is no-less very similar to cultivating consciousness in sitting Zazen through correct (and correcting) posture and through monitoring of the breath. This idea of moving in stillness could be compared to the immovable mind of Fudo Myo-O, the mind that is moved by nothing and stops at no-thought. The physical movement of Yoga helps concentrate physical awareness where-as sitting Zazen cultivates mental awareness. Zazen is a work-out for the mind and works towards one of the most essential aspects of the yogic path; seeing the conditioning of perceptions. Zazen conditions the mind without trying to subdue thoughts or change perceptions but merely observe the mind without getting involved. This `non-action` of the mind cultivates greater states of awareness that can simply, if allowed, drop the monkey-mind out of the tree.

I found Rinzai Zen to be a more expressive practice, more suitable to myself than the Soto Zen School. I came to this conclusion in viewing the sects` art, whereas painting done by the Soto sect seemed contained, reserved, careful and pristine, the Rinzai sect traditionally loaded their brushes full of ink and hit the paper allowing a looser uncontained flow. I find this energy transfer is also reflected in the sects` meditative styles. Soto is very strict on sitting for the sake of sitting whereas Rinzai has various methods for cultivating Satori and even encourage that meditation within activity is more beneficial than silent, seated meditation. The Rinzai rush through their chanting slurring words together, being less mindful of their speech than Soto, but in doing this, recognize that the words are not what are important. The Rinzai may have been less elegant as shown in their art and even their dress made of hemp compared to the silk of Soto, but I feel are really just more down to earth people.

The Enso is the essence of art that I had been searching for. The Enso is the moon pointing at the moon. The Enso is meditation. The Enso is an interrelated mutually conditional open container of potentiality. The Enso is inherently empty, empty of an essence. The Enso is just an Enso.

Ikebana: flower arrangement

I learned the basic aesthetics of Ikebana flower design from my kind neighbor, Mariam, whose garden I worked in. Basic flower design is based off of high, medium, and low flower approach, as well as various angles and containers. Like all art, the real aesthetic appeal comes from what the Japanese call Myo. Myo is an appearance devoid of form, which is impossible to identify with in which the audience reacts without even really knowing. This is a term often used to describe the aesthetic term of `wabi` which is a sensuous awareness of `the void` a manifestation of Buddhaland, simplicity that is found in the natural world, often incorporating inherent moral principles through means of a purity that is free of defilement. A closely related term which applies to flower design is`Sabi`. Sabi is an immediate aesthetic apprehension of real as opposed to `Yugen` which is an aesthetic experience characterized as a vehicle to point beyond itself into a numinal dimension, or a hidden reality bridging the real with the phenomenal. Sabi is unique in it`s valoration of nature, a loneliness, a feeling of separation that is detached of civilization, from self as ego, a pure direct experience of solitariness.


Ikebana flower design has its roots in Buddhism and were initially made as offerings to the Buddha as flowers were not only seeing as aesthetically pleasing, but were in themselves symbols of Kami, the gods, and places wherein they would take residence. Ikebana flower design gradually expanded from the secondary role of alter pieces and became solitary masterpieces used for festivals, home decor, for chado (tea ceremonies), and even to social parties that were based around the art form.

Ikebana flower design moved from the humble alters of the people to the grand decoration of ceremonial halls to the mansions of the aristocrats and even the homes of the warrior class. Although Ikebana was considered to be a valuable trade to all young men who had come of age, there were schools dedicated to flower arrangement to create professional advisers in the art-form.


I designed my flower arrangement beginning with the container, which is almost, if not equally as important as the actual arrangement. Before the art form of Ikebana developed the flowers were used to accentuate the container, although now the combination of flowers and vase is considered equally complimentary, especially in regard to the form of Ikebana design such as the complex form of rikka, to the simpler arrangements of nageirebana, the free-arrangement of jiyu-bana, or cha-bana which is flowers used in decoration for tea ceremonies. The ceramic mug pictured here was made by my colleague Jacob Olsen. Within the mug sits a shot-glass, this cup within a cup is used as a support structure. I arranged my flowers to appear as if they were cascading out of the containers, a thrust of life which possess a wild nature that can not be contained. I used the leaves to counterbalance the composition, create strong diagonals and to hide the stems. I chose to conceal the stems to suggest hidden supports.

That`s a Wrap

The Japanese are very generous when it comes to helping one another and a traditional custom for the Japanese is to give small gifts as a token of thanks for such hospitality. Wanting to fully partake in the culture and express my gratitude to the people whom helped me along the way I decided to make studies on the butterfly effect called Dominos, as a little gift from America. In need of way to transport my　Dominos safely, I was also in search for an appropriate way to `gift` wrap my presents for the hospitable people of Japan who would be aiding me on my travels. I came to the realization that my ichibana bandana prints would be perfect for the job. I rather unfortunately only had two days to print the bandanas and the process for completing the prints in my jerry-rigged print lab in my grandmama`s basement would have taken over twice that amount of time. I just did not have the time to tackle the project in my studio considering that I had not yet started to packfor my trip. I had made the executive decision to head to my college and see if I would be able to use their facilities.
I had further business to conduct in my college town in hiring a yoga instructor for the student run mindfulness organization which I founded Zen Living. Upon arriving I found the Yoga Teacher to be a perfect fit for the club, in fact Tim needed the structure of our organization just as much as we needed him to lead class. Tim was very experienced in the spiritual realm and had developed a practice for over 12 years. Coincidently enough Tim was currently living inside of Knacks screen printing studio.


The gift wrap for Dominos turned out better than I could of possibly hoped, and done on my own thanks to the wonderful people of Knacks Advertising and all the correct energy lining up. This was a positive reminder that we are merely empty vessels that exist in our energetic interactions which are connections to the greater whole.

Don`t you know who I am?

My friend Chawrles got his name from the rather hysterical parody ` I`m the Juggernaut Bitch` which is a dubbing of the popular comic X-Men. The parody has an overtly confident rather self indulged character called the Juggernaut whom is based off the Hindu deity Jagannath whom is a form of Vishnu. The story of Jagganath goes on that a group of sexy cow herding girls,had told subharda to keep a look out for Jagganath so that they could talk about past times with the deity. Subharda became engrossed in listening in and did not see Jagganath roll up and over hear the conversation. As Jagganath listened in, his hair stood on end, a smile plastered his face and his eyes permanently grew enormous which is why Jagganath looks the way he does today.

Chawrles got his nick name, because like Charles Xavier, he has the psychic ability to get into persons heads (unless they`re wearing a helmet) When Chawrles had asked me to tag up his helmet I immediately obliged, despite all the studying I had to due for my trip.

I had told Chawrles to read `What the Buddha Taught` by Walpola Rahula, while I was drawing and give me the synopsis as I was supposed to have read the book for my travels. Very coincidently he had read on the back of the book that the book was distributed for free. I had actually received my free copy from Andrew, the vice president of the student run mindfulness organization which I founded Zen Living. Andrew worked at the writing center where the books were being recycled. Without realizing this I had checked out the very same novel from the Zen Center of Minneapolis and decided to give Chawrles my extra copy.

I became stuck in the drawing process and had stopped to ask Chawrles what he had learned. Chawrles read aloud `It is an undeniable fact that as long as there is doubt, perplexity, wavering, no progress is possible. It is also undeniable that there must be doubt as long as one does not see or understand clearly.` I rather quickly turned the helmet into a masterpiece except leaving a blank space for Chawrles to draw an Om

Chawrles sat in full lotus and drew Om after Om until he had fully covered his paper and truly embodied the Om